PENSACOLA, Fla. — A federal judge on Monday began hearing arguments in a legal battle between Florida and the Biden administration over immigration, a long-running political fight that in recent days has taken center stage in the Florida Keys where hundreds of migrants have arrived by boat.
The trial, which is expected to go through Thursday, stems from a lawsuit Attorney General Ashley Moody filed against the Biden administration in 2021. The issue is hitting close to home simultaneously as Gov. Ron DeSantis says the migrant arrivals in the Keys are “likely to constitute a major disaster.”
In Pensacola this week, attorneys in Moody’s office will try to convince U.S. District Judge T.K. Wetherell that the U.S. government is violating federal law through policies that release undocumented immigrants who cross the southern border into the community, many of them hoping to reach Florida.
U.S. Department of Justice attorneys, meanwhile, will argue the Biden administration — just like every other administration in the past — has discretion over whom to detain and release after they illegally enter the country.
The case is “simply a disagreement on policy,” DOJ attorney Erin T. Ryan argued during opening statements on Monday. Its resolution should be at the “voting booth, not the courtroom,” she added.
But the state contends the federal government’s policies are harming Florida and intends to prove it by showing how the flow of undocumented immigrants into the state is raising the cost of services such as education, healthcare and unemployment services.
“Defendants caused the border crisis, and they know it,” Florida Deputy Attorney General of Legal Policy James H. Percival said.
The legal battle will add to Florida’s perpetual back and forth with the Biden administration over immigration. While the surge of migrants in the Keys was not mentioned in court Monday, the outcome of the trial could have an impact on the hundreds of Cubans and Haitians who are arriving by boat in the Keys.
Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is eyeing a potential White House run in 2024, has repeatedly cast himself as the opposite of Biden on key issues. On Friday, the governor blamed Biden’s administration policies at the border for the situation in the Keys, and activated the Florida National Guard to respond to the situation.
DeSantis, with Moody as a key ally, will test those federal immigration policies in court in the coming days.
What’s the policy in dispute?
Florida is seeking to block the enforcement of a policy called “Parole and Alternative to Detention,” which allows immigration authorities to release certain undocumented immigrants at or near the border on parole.
Upon their release, they are enrolled in a federal program that “imposes a series of obligations on enrollers to ensure that they check in with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) within a specific period of time and placed in removal proceedings,” the Biden administration states in court records.
The Biden administration argues it lacks the resources and detention capacity to process and detain the surge of migrants arriving at the border. But the state is not buying it.
Percival argued the Biden administration is purposely avoiding detention, pointing to public statements made by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, in which he said that the detention was “overused” by the federal government.
“There is no better example than his words,” Percival said.
Who will take the stand?
Lawyers for both sides will call witnesses, including officials in the DeSantis and Biden administrations.
Video testimony from U.S. Border Patrol Chief Raul L. Ortiz recorded in July was played in court on Monday.
Ortiz said he believes the situation at the border is a “crisis” and that there has been an “unprecedented” number of migrants illegally crossing the border since Biden took office.
One of the factors that could contribute to the surge in migrants, Ortiz testified, is word of mouth that more migrants are being paroled rather than detained.
Cubans, Venezuelans and Nicaraguans are often paroled into the community because they cannot be returned to their home country, he testified.
The state also called Jacob Oliva, the senior chancellor for the Florida Department of Education. He testified that the situation at the border could impact Florida school districts.
All children in the United States, regardless of their immigration or citizenship status, are entitled to a basic public elementary and public education.
Oliva said there is “no way” for state education officials to track how many undocumented children are enrolled in Florida schools,” but the number is “not zero.” He said there are about 112,000 students — or about 3% of the state’s public school students — who were either born in a foreign country or attended school in a foreign country for three years or more.
Ryan, with the DOJ, argued those students could also be green card holders or U.S. citizens who were born abroad.
As a result, Oliva argued, an influx of migrant students could become a “significant strain” on districts’ spending plans. He said the state needs to invest in teacher certifications, interpreters and take into account other costs, such as summer school for students who may need extra time to get caught up in school.
In particular, he pointed to the costs associated with educating students whose primary language is not English. While being an English language learner is not indicative of a student’s immigration status, Oliva maintained that some of the students are undocumented.
